[18] Lance Guidry, WKU's defensive coordinator was named interim head coach and led the Hilltoppers to their first bowl appearance as an FBS member. [25] On January 8, 2014, it was announced that Petrino would leave WKU to return to Louisville to accept the head football coach position. The Hilltoppers were very successful in this era posting an outstanding a 60204 record. The 2022 campaign will be his fourth season at the helm of the Hilltopper program after producing a 23-15 mark (including 17-6 in C-USA play) and reaching three bowl games in his first three years. Knowing it wasn't going to be easy, and without the motivation of being eligible to compete for a championship, Elson and the Hilltoppers set two team goals that season; to win seven games and to go undefeated at home. . Schedule. <>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]>>/Type/Page>> Sunny. During his first year at WKU, the team went 67, losing in the 2017 Cure Bowl to Georgia State, 2717. By 1952, with Feix now in his senior year, Clayton coached WKU to their first Ohio Valley Conference championship, tied the school record for wins, and the school's first bowl appearance, winning 3419 over Arkansas State in the Refrigerator Bowl, finishing the season 91. "We succeed at a very high level with the support that's at the bottom of our peers in our conference.". In 1963, Denes led the Hilltoppers to their second bowl game victory, defeating Coast Guard 270 in the Tangerine Bowl, a season where the Hilltoppers went 1001 and set a new school record for wins. ", "It's not an apples to apples comparison," George Nichols said. The facts are this, since 2012, WKU Athletics budget has seen $6 million in total reductions. 3 0 obj Spurlock joins the Hilltoppers after serving the 2022 season as a special teams assistant coach with the Green Bay Packers. 10 0 obj endobj [3] Feix was named OVC Coach of the Year in 1973, 1978 and 1980 and remains the winningest football coach in WKU history. WKU Football announced the hiring of Micheal Spurlock as the program's receivers coach in March of 2022. 1089 days ago . Andy Beshear declares State of Emergency ahead of severe storms, WKU Baseballs game against Northern Illinois has been postponed, WKU Softball revises Hilltopper Spring Fling schedule for this weekend, Girls 4th Region Tournament Semifinals rescheduled for Saturday evening, Former NFL veteran Micheal Spurlock named WKU receivers coach. [17] In their first year under Taggart, coming off a winless season under Elson, WKU finally broke their 26-game losing streak with a 5421 win at UL Lafayette. The Hilltoppers recovered from an 0-4 start in 2011 to finish the BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Da'Von Brown has been hired as WKU's new defensive backs coach, head coach Tyson Helton announced Thursday. The programs scheduled a one-game match-up in 2017 in which WKU won 3117 in Bowling Green, KY. WKU has an inactive rivalry with nearby Murray State. You have a special role in the lives of your student athletes. They were led by third-year head coach Willie Taggart and played their home games at Houchens Industries-L. T. Smith Stadium. Raymond Woodie will shift to "It's just a reallocation of the salary pool because of coaches leaving.". The team roster included future NFL players Roy Bondurant, Lawrence Brame, and Bill "Jelly" Green, as well as future NFL coach Romeo Crennel. The transition's been pretty simple, considering that I know all of these kids.". Nick Denes, who was also a WKU Hilltoppers baseball head coach and for whom Nick Denes Field is named, coached WKU football for 11 seasons. It worked very well for us this past year with a Zach Kittley, a Bryan Ellis, a Zach Lankford, a Ben Arbuckle, a coach Crawford and coach Lock in that room, all those guys have a voice in there.. NCAA Tournament: 23 Years (19-24), 1 Final Four, 0 Championships NCAA Champion: Ranked in AP Poll: 4 Times (Preseason), 11 Times (Final), 111 . [21] Keeping the programs momentum going, on April 1, 2013, it was announced that WKU would join Conference USA in all sports effective July 1, 2014, the following season. coordinator each of the past two seasons, will focus solely on the The 2007 WKU Hilltoppers football team represented Western Kentucky University (WKU) during the 2007 NCAA Division I FCS football season.The team's head coach was David Elson.It was the team's first and only season as an NCAA Division I FCS independent team as they made the transition from the Gateway Conference of Division I-AA (now FCS) to the Sun Belt Conference of the FBS. <>stream Jack Harbaugh served as the Hilltoppers head football coach for 14 seasons, compiling a 9168 record, three 10+ win seasons, two conference championships (OVC 2000, Gateway 2002) and the 2002 Division I-AA National Championship. Doughty was named 2014 Sammy Baugh Trophy winner as well as 2014 Conference USA Most Valuable Player. Terry left the program after the 1941 season following a 451 record, the Hilltopper's first losing season since 1925. During Western Kentucky's Board of Regents meeting on Friday, May 15, it was announced the football staff would be getting a raise, some members have much as 17 percent. In 1934, Carl Anderson returned for a second stint with the Hilltoppers where he served as head coach through the 1937 season posting a 2493 record with wins over EKU in all four seasons. Salaries for new WKU football assistant coaches. In 2007, the Hilltoppers began the transition to NCAA Division I FBS as Independents, considered a reclassifying school for both the 2007 and 2008 seasons due to NCAA rules. In 2007, WKU initiated the transition to NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and became ineligible for any further playoff appearances. Obviously his relationship with Bailey and the opportunity to have one more game together, I think thats really, really special so Im glad thats going to happen.. Crum, replacing Clayton White who is now the defensive coordinator at South Carolina, spent last season serving as the Hilltoppers' co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach and has been on staff since the 2017 season. [46], Western Kentucky has retired four jersey numbers. The program has 13 conference championships (1 SIAA, 9 OVC, 1 Gateway, 2 Conference USA) and 6 FBS-level bowl game victories. Leiper and Roy Manchester are the first noted coaches for WKU. [4] Feix coached 16 athletes who followed him on the list of WKU football All-Americans. Western Kentucky has hired Tyson Summers as co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach, and Enrique Davis as running backs coach, the program announced Friday. From 1922 to 1928, the Hilltoppers saw their first success as Coach E.A. All the efforts paid off and on April 30, 1992, the WKU Board of Regents voted to allow football to stay but with a reduced budget. Under Clayton, the Hilltoppers posted a record of 50332 before he left to coach at Northwestern Louisiana State College, his alma mater. ), 19 Times (Tourn.) John, on the other hand, was a coach at Cincinnati and could rely on his scouting services, . If you forget it, you'll be able to recover it using your email address. After U of L went 6-6 and missed out on the postseason under first-year head coach Steve Kragthorpe in 2007, the Green Bay Packers selected Brohm in the second round (56th overall) of the 2008 NFL . Create a password that only you will remember. Ben Arbuckle will be the teams new quarterbacks coach and a co-offensive coordinator, Zach Lankford will take over as the offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator, and Josh Crawford will remain as the teams outside receivers coach and also serve as a co-offensive coordinator. To start the 2012 campaign, Summers went to UCF, where he was the Linebackers coach for two years before being promoted to Defensive Coordinator for the 2014 season. [39]:164165, WKU won the NCAA Division 1AA football national championship in 2002 and finished ranked number 1 in both final 1AA national polls that year. You have permission to edit this article. The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football program is a college football team that represents Western Kentucky University. [32], On December 5, 2016 it was announced that Jeff Brohm would be leaving to take the head coach position at Purdue and that defensive coordinator Nick Holt would be filling in as interim head coach leading into their bowl game. [5] Harbaugh took the Hilltopper football program from the depths of despair in the early 1990s to its best stretch since the legendary Jimmy Feix coached on the Hill. NFL. Menu. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Men's Basketball Coaches. Sheridan, a former quarterback at Michigan, fills "Coming from Texas to Ohio to here, it's not the same transition as becoming full-time again," Hamby said. b3JlY2FyZHJlc2VhcmNoLmNvbS9wP2MxPTImYzI9NzI0MTQ2OSZjNz1odHRw The 1967 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team represented Western Kentucky University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 1967 NCAA College Division football season. From 1917 to 1919 the Hilltoppers didn't compete in football from due to World War I. [10], After serving on Harbaugh's coaching staff seven seasons, David Elson was promoted to head coach where he led the Hilltoppers for seven seasons. 24 ranked Marshall, in Huntington, 6766 in overtime[28] (effectively starting a rivalry between the two schools) as well as winning the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl, their first FBS bowl win with a 4948 victory over Central Michigan. For the past three seasons, LaRussa was WKU's Special Teams Coordinator and Safeties coach. 27 28 29 Advertisement Helton said former WKU co-offensive coordinator/inside receiver coach Bryan Ellis and former offensive line coach Stephen Hamby will not coach in the bowl game. Between his stints at WKU, Taylor worked at Georgia Southern as the Director of Football Operations in 2016 and two seasons at the University of Southern California as the Trojan's Director of Player Engagement. Athletics & Coaches | Western Kentucky University You have a special role in the lives of your student athletes. 2 0 obj In 2002, the WKU squad won the NCAA Division I-AA national football championship . Obviously there are emotional swings with sports and so the mathematical ratings do not always line up with the emotional expectations from a team. Western Kentucky approves upgrade to I-A", "Western Kentucky fires coach amid 0-9 season", "W. Kentucky hires Stanford's Taggart as coach", "Western Kentucky hires Stanford assistant Willie Taggart as coach USATODAY.com", "Little Caesars Bowl: Western Kentucky gamble fails; Central Michigan wins", "Bobby Petrino hired as new Western Kentucky head coach", "Bobby Petrino is new WKU football coach", "Western Kentucky to Join Conference USA in 2014", "Kentucky Wildcats vs Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Recap", "Louisville Cardinals hire Bobby Petrino as football coach", "Jeff Brohm hired as coach of Western Kentucky Hilltoppers", "After filling up stat sheet last year, Brandon Doughty focusing on championship", "Hilltoppers finish season ranked No. Own. They multi-task, are often driven, and must get up early for practice and Spurlock joined the Hilltoppers after serving the 2022 season as a special teams assistant coach with the Green Bay Packers. Rodriguez coached on the same Vikings staff as Gannon for a number of years but has spent the past three football seasons coaching the defensive line at Arizona State. How do I apply for financial aid and scholarships? The official Football Coach List for the Fresno State Bulldogs. [41] NCAA Division I-AA was formed for football in 1978, and WKU moved up from Division II to Division I-AA at that time, and all playoff appearances since then were at the Division I-AA level.